Loose-leaf ledger



J. SCHADE LOOSE LEAF' LEDGER @Het um;

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 23 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 March 25 1924.

J. SCHADE LOOSE LEAF LEDGEJR Filed April 23 Patented Mar. 25, 1924.

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heidi@ JOHN SCI-IADE, OF HOLYOKE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO NATIONAL BLANK BOOK COMPANY, OF HOLYOKE, MASSACHUSETTS, A. VOLUNTARY TRUST ASSOCIATION.

LOOSE-LEAF LEDGER.

Application filed April 23, 1921. Serial No. 463,954.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that l, Jol-IN SCHADE, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of Holyoke, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful lmprovements in Loose-Leaf Ledgers; and l do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in loose leaf ledgers and the primary object thereof is to provide novel sheet holding means for cooperation with sheets possessed of marginal U-shaped openings and more especially aims to provide holding means which includes a loose post which can be adjusted as to its length according to the thickness of the mass of sheets and which is passed through circular openings formed in the sheets and removably engaged at its ends with the respective ledger sections.

A further object of. the invention is to provide locking means for the sections which is alined with the row of posts that engage in the marginal openings so as to bind the sheets as far forward as possible and thereby prevent relative spreading of the parts of the sections which are held rigidly when the ledger is locked to prevent removal of the sheets.

The invention also aims to provide novel means for actuating the lock so as to dispense with the necessity of use of a key and the-rw with the rotating part actuated by the key.

Still further the invention aims to provide a structure having improved means for anchoring the female members of the automatic extensible posts and of the clutch to the cheek pieces of the sections, and to also provide a structure. wherein there are two posts carried by one section and one by the other, the said other section carrying the female member of a locking means, so that upon separation of the sections, the removable adjustable post can be applied to the female member to constitute ank extension thereof, whereby said other section is thus equipped when separated with two sheet-holding posts, the same as in the instance of the first named section, so as to thus have each section similarly equipped with sheet-engaging posts.

ln the drawings: Figure 1 is a top plan view of Figure 2; Figure 2 is a fragmentary side elevation;

Figure 8 is a section on line 3-3 of Figure 4;

Figure 4 is an end elevation partly broken away and in section;

Figure 5 is a bottom plan view of the Figure 4;

Figzgure- 6 is a section on line 6 6 of Figure 4;

Figure 7 is a longitudinal sec-tional view of the loose sheet holding post;

Figure 8 is a section on line 8 8 of Figure 7 Figure 9 is a detail plan view of the lock operating slide;

Figure 10 is a section on line 10-10 of Figure 6,

Figure 11 is a section on line 11h11 of Figure 4, and

Figure 12 is a fragmentary view of a sheet with the holes therein.

In proceeding in accordance with the present invention, cheek pieces 1 and 2 are employed having overlapping tongues 3 and 4 as shown in the drawings. The cheek pieces are formed hollow so as to constitute housings and are provided with openings to loosely receive the ends of an adjustable sheet-holding post which latter as shown in Figure 7 consists of the telescopic sections 5 and 6. Section 6 has a long screw 7 therein spaced from its inner surface, while section 5 has a bifurcated and interi orly threaded thickened head 8 which engages the threads of the screw 7 and is held at its periphery by frictional engagement with the inner circumference ofthe section 6 into threaded engagement with the screw .C

7 thereby obviating threading of the section 5 throughout its length. In this manner by relative turning of the sections 5 and 6 the length of the post may be varied as desired, and the lattery dropped through the circular holes H of the sheets S as shown in Figure 12.

In the present invention automatically operating spring posts are employed as set forth. and claimed in an application filed April 2, 1921, Serial No. 458,014, the posts having female members 9 and male 1nembers 10. @ne of the automatic posts is carried b-y one of the sections 1 and two by the other section 2 and the section carrying the llt) said one post also carries a female member 11 similar to the female members 9 of the automatic posts, the member 11 being utilized as the female member of the clutch. This member 11 is alined with the automatic posts and receives the male member 12 of the clutch. The clutch proper is of the friction type and is generally designated 13 and forms the subject matter of a companion application filed April 2, 1921, Serial N o. 458,015.

rThe present invention aims to provide improved means for anchoring the female members 9 and 11 to the respective cheek pieces, so as to give saine lateral support throughout their entire circumference and accordingly these members have laterally extended flanges 1h1- whicli are spot-welded to tongues 3 or et of the cheek pieces. As shown in Figures l and 11, the flanges 14 of the female member 9 attached to the lower binder member are each spotwelded to a plate which is of a length indicated by dotted lines in Figure et, which spaces the flanges 14 from the tongue et so that the tongues can telescope, the tongue 3 being provided with the cut-outs 1G to receive the plates 15 as depicted in Figure 4:. 4The ends of the female members are eyeletted or expanded as shown at 17 iii Figure 6 to secure them in openings in the cheek pieces 1 and 2.

The formation and securement of the female members greatly strengthens the latter since they ar'ethus firmly supported throughout their length. Further they are not only reenforced by the eyeletting 17 at their base ends, but also by the spot-welded side or lateral flanges, this additionally strengthening the angle formed by the tongues an-d the cheek pieces preventing distortion of such angle.

For the purpose of operating the clutch into and out of clutching positions, the male member 12 (Figure G) is threaded at its base end into engagement with a plate 18, the latter being disposed in the space between a pair of ears 19, which are carried by the housing 20 of the male member 12 of the clutch. Apin 21 extends through the ears 19 so as to be supported thereby, and is constantly urged upwardly by the end of a leaf spring 22, the latter being held in position by a screw 23 (Figure Ll) which screw also holds the plate 18 in rigid connection with the cheek piece 2. As illustrated in Figure 9, a forked member 24 is employed to actuate the housing member 20, the arms of which member 24 are tapered at 25 and engage between the ends of the pin 21 and the base 26 of the tougue 4, the base 26 forming a part of t-he cheek piece or housing 2 as Figure 6 illustrates. The forked member 24 is provided with a thumb piece 27 eX- tending through a slot 28, formed in a depressed or concaved part 29 in the outer side of the cheek piece or housing 2, shown clearly in Figures 4t and 5 of the drawing.

From the foregoing it will be seen that in order to move the clutch to clutching and uiiclutcliiiig positions, it is merely necessary to move the slide member 24 by engagement with its thumb piece 27, thereby moving the housing 20 of the clutch to render the latter operative or inoperative, the spring 21, normally acting to hold the clutch operative. As shown in Figure 3 of the drawings the spring 30 of one of the automatic posts overlies the forked slide 24 and in order to support the lower end of this spring, a knob 31 is employed reduced to receive the spring and having its outer end rounded so as to engage the slide 24 in a manner to not interfere with free movements of the slide, as shown in Figure 3.

l/Vhen the ledger sections are separated and placed on a. stand (not shown) for the purpose of transferring the leaves from one section to another, the manually adjustable removable post composed of the parts 5 and 6, is removed and its smaller end dropped into the female member 11 of the friction clutch, which affords an extension post for use when the leaves are transferred. It will be observed that one yof the ledger sections has two automatically operating eX- tension posts while the other has only one, which is due to the fact that'the invention supplants one post by the friction clutch, and the female member of this post is required to perform two functions, namely, a member of the clutch and also an eXtension post when lthe clutch member 2O is removed and member 5 of the sheet-holding post is inserted therein as above note-d.

After the sheets-holding post has been inserted through the circular perforation H in the sheets, and seated within one cheek piece, the outer end thereof should project beyond the mass of sheets not over a-quarter of an inch so that the post will not be so long as to interfere with the proper closing of the ledger sections, and when the latter are closed this outer end of the post will seat within a corresponding socket. iii the other cheek piece. Y

The sheetsholding post is'used when the ledger sections are separated and placed upon the stand since one section carries the two resilient extension posts while Y the other section carries only the single resilient extension post and the housing which operates as the female member of the clutch. Now when these sections have been separated there will be only one long post on the said other section, and although the female member of the clutch acts as the otherv post it will be too short, when the accountant transfers the leaves from oneV section to the other section, and accordingly the manually adjustedk post heretofore referred to is pulled out of themass of leaves held by the first section and one end insertedavithin the female clutch member so as to thus provide an extension post. When the leaves have been transferred from the second to the first section the accountant merely sees that when the sheet holding post is returned to its normal position in the leaf perforations the extreme outer end of this manually adjusted post is so manipulated that it Will project up above the leaves not over a quarter of an inch and the ledger sections are then closed.

What is claimed is:

l. A ledger binder composed of two separable sections and resiliently extensible post members premanently carried by each of said sections for enga-gement Within edge apertures in the loose sheets, and an eXtensible post comprising manually adjustable sections removably engageable with said binder sections and extending Within perforations in said sheets to secure them as aga-inst removal.

2. In a loose leaf ledger, a pair of separable sections, hollow telescoping posts that are secured respectively at one end to opposite sections and are entirely free at the other end for engagement in edge openings in the sheets, a coil spring Within these posts whereby the latter are automatically extensible or contractible, and a loose post composed of tWo threadedly connected sections formed to engage through circular perforations in the sheets to hold the latter against removal.

A loose leaf ledger comprising a pair of separa-ble sections, containing sheets having circular holes and edge slots, a pair of automatically extensible posts carried by one section, an automatic extensible post carried by the other section, locking means for the sections including a female member carried by said other section, and a sheet-holding post formed to loosely enthe respective sections at its ends and formed to engage through the circular holes of the sheets, said sheet-holding post being so constructed as to be received in the female member of the locking means so as to constitute an extension thereof when the sections are separated.

fl. In a loose leaf ledger, a pair of separable binder sections, automatically operating' telescoping locking means for the sections, and automatically extensible posts that are respectively secured at one end to opposite sections the other ends being ein tirely free, said -posts including female members having opposed flanges along their sides secured to the sections.

5. In a loose leaf ledger, a pair of separable sections, and locking means therefor including a clutch having a slidable member, a spring for tensioning said member, and a slide having a thumb piece said slide being adapted to engage said member to move same against the action of the spring to unclutched position.

G. In a loose leaf ledger, a pair of separable sections, posts carried by each section, and locking means for the sections composed of telescopic clutch members, ears carried by one of the clutch members, a pin carried by the ears and having its ends ezitending therebeyond, a leaf spring engaged with the pin beneath the latter and arranged between the ears, and a forked slide having tapered ends disposed outside of the ears and carrying the pin ends to actuate said clutch member.

7. In a loose leaf ledger, a pair of separable sections and automatically extensible posts carried by the sections and composed of telescopic male and female members that are respectively secured at one end to opposite sections and are entirely free at the other end, the female members having opposed lateral flanges along their sides spot-Welded to the sections.

8. In a loose leaf ledger, a pair of separrable sections and automatically extensible posts carried by the sections and composed of telescopic male and female members that are secured respectively at one end to opposite sections and are entirely free at the other end, the female members having op Iposed lateral flanges along their sides, and means to secure the flanges of each female member to the section which carries said member, whereby the ina-le and female members will be alined for telescopic engagement.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature hereto.

JOHN SCHADE. 

